“Alright, ladies.” Beverly began. “We are all beautiful and we are full of class. The other girls in this school need role models. We are those role models.”
The girls in the Charm Club clapped.
“Now, let’s show this school what the Charm Club is made of,” Marylin said.
The Charm Club stood in a straight line, arms linked together. We walked up the front steps and into the school.
I could feel people looking at us as we passed by. I looked at the other girls to see if they noticed it too, but they were all staring straight ahead, so I did the same thing.
In homeroom, the girl next to me turned to me and said, “Wow, Lauren-Anne! You look great! No offense, but it’s a serious improvement from junior high.”
I smiled. “Thank you, Ashley.”
“What’s your secret to looking so good?”
“I joined the Charm Club! It’s great. Beverly and Marylin, the girls in charge, lent me their clothes and showed me how to do my hair and make-up.”
“Do you think you could show me how to look like that?”
I didn’t really want to. I didn’t want someone who wasn’t part of the Charm Club to look as good as me, but part of the Charm Club was helping girls better themselves. “Sure,” I said.
“Great! I’ll give you my phone number and you can call me when you’re not too busy.” Ashley said.
I smiled. It was my first school day since officially joining the Charm Club and things were going great.
Brittany
By lunch, I wasn’t “the new girl” anymore. I was Brittany Lends, member of the Charm Club. People were talking to me like they had known me since kindergarten, which was exactly what I had wanted.
“Isn’t it great?” Beverly asked me when I told her about it. “You have a name at this school now.” She gestured to everyone at the table as she said, “You all do.”
“I already did.” Tiffany said. “I was the most popular girl in junior high.”
“Don’t brag like that. It’s not becoming,” Marylin told her.
Tiffany frowned and looked down at the table.
I was kind of glad that Marylin had shut her up. I had noticed that Tiffany thought that she was better than everyone else and it was annoying.
“Hey, Brittany, right?” A guy’s voice asked.
I looked up. Meg’s brother was standing over me.
I smiled. “Yeah. You’re Graham, right?”
“Yeah. Meg’s brother,” He looked over at Meg, who looked really annoyed.
“Graham, what are you doing here?” She asked.
Graham ignored her and asked me, “Do you want to go somewhere to talk?”
I looked at Beverly and Marylin, who were nodding and grinning. I smiled. “Sure.”
I got up and followed Graham to an empty table.
“So, how do you like White Grimm so far?” Graham asked.
“I like it here.” I told him. “I’ve made a lot of friends in the Charm Club and most of the people here seem really nice.”
“That’s good. I’m glad you like it here.” There was a moment of silence before he asked, “Do you want to go out?”
I grinned as I said, “Yeah, I’d love that.”
“Great. Where do you live? I’ll pick you up on Friday night. Maybe at seven?”
“That sounds great,” I said. I gave Graham my address and went back to my lunch table.
“What happened?” Marylin asked.
“We’re going out on a date! On Friday night!” I said excitedly.
Everyone jumped up and started clapping. Everyone except Meg and Tiffany.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so happy for you!” Marylin hugged me.
“He’s one of the most popular guys in school! You’re so lucky,” Beverly said.
Once everyone composed themselves, Marylin said, “I say that we go to Brittany’s house after school today to pick out an outfit for her date.”
“Yes! That is a great idea!” Beverly said.
I smiled. I was beginning to remember what it felt like to have friends.
Tiffany
I laid in bed thinking about the day’s events. Things weren’t going my way. Not at all. I had never really thought about Graham, but Beverly was right. He was one of the most popular guys in school. Why didn’t he like me?
I got up and stood in front of my mirror. I looked at myself for a long time. Was it my hair? No. It couldn’t be. I had the best hair in the class. Was it my skin? I leaned in and looked at my face closely. No. You couldn’t see any pores and I had never even had a pimple. It certainly wasn’t my body. I had the perfect hourglass figure.
I sighed. What was wrong with me? No boys had paid attention to me at all yet. How was I supposed to be popular if I didn’t have a boyfriend? I thought to myself. This was the age of feminism! This was the age of women’s rights! If Graham wouldn’t come to me, then I’d go to him. I looked at the clock. It was only 8:37. It wasn’t too late. I grabbed my jacket off the bedpost on my way out the bedroom door. I was a woman on a mission.
Meg
I was watching tv on the couch with my family when the doorbell rang.
“Meg, will you get that, sweetie?” My mom asked.
I sighed as I stood up. “How come Graham never has to answer to the door?”
“Because I’m older than you,” Graham answered.
I opened the front door. Tiffany was standing on the porch. “Tiffany? What are you doing here?” I asked. Tiffany and I had never been friends. Not even in elementary school. Tiffany was born to be popular. And girls like Lauren-Anne and I... Well, we weren’t.
Tiffany grinned at me. “Hi, Meg!” She peered past me, into the living room. “Am I interrupting something?”
“No, not really. We’re just-”
Tiffany walked past me, into the house. “Great. I had a few things I wanted to talk to you about. Can we go up to your room?”
I didn’t say anything. What
